It's amazing how one star can fall so fast. Randy Moss, in many circles considered the second greatest wideout of all time next to Jerry Rice, retired from the NFL on Monday, August 1. With the image of Moss talking his way out of New England, and his dreadful performances in Minnesota and Tennessee in 2010, teams weren't exactly lining up at his doorstep with a long term contract. In fact, his inability to find anything past a one year deal reportedly pushed Moss to hang up his cleats.
Perhaps the league's best ever deep threats, Moss' tenure in the league came and went like a whirlwind. After sliding in the draft due to a slew of non-football related issues, Moss tore the league up as a rookie with 17 receiving TD's. Following seven standout seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, Moss was jettisoned to the "black-hole", also known as Oakland.
Looking as disinterested as one professional athlete could get, Moss lasted two forgettable seasons for the Raiders, before a bold and well respected coach took a chance on Moss for a measly fourth-round draft pick.
Bill Belichick, who was noted to having taken a liking to Moss' no nonsense attitude, knew he could motivate the talented yet complex wideout from Rand, WV. Judging from that season's statistics, Belichick must have been on to something. Having Tom Brady didn't hurt the Patriots campaign to being the best offense in NFL history. Brady threw for a record 50 TD passes, while Moss hauled in an NFL record 23 of them. There were certainly other pieces to the puzzle, but the main attraction was Moss.
Watching Brady, who had never had nearly the talented receiver Moss was on his team in his six seasons prior, bomb balls deep to Moss was like watching poetry in motion - Brady's perfect motion and arm strength, coupled with Moss' freakish stride and ability to catch everything and anything thrown in his direction.
We will never see anything quite like what happened with Brady and Moss, particularly in that 2007 season. That is why Moss' retirement is so disheartening. If he had chosen to, Moss could be hauling in training camp gems this season for the Patriots.
Instead, he's out of the game, unable to accept that teams may not be able to deal with the other side of Randy Moss. Despite his charitable ways, his caring for children, and his laid back roots in rural West Virginia, Moss will be remembered most for his temper tantrums, his water bottle squirt at a referee, and his infamous fake moon of the Green Bay crowd (which wasn't that bad at all).
In spite of all his faults and negative attributes, Moss should be remembered by the word associated with the way he played football: "Wow!"
Monday, August 1, 2011
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